This week marks 6 months in Mauritania. I have completed 1/4th of my tour here, and somehow I feel like I just barely arrived. The first batch of officers I met since moving have departed post during the usual winter cycle, and a new group of individuals have recently arrived. I am no longer a newbie to post, and somehow find myself being amongst the more settled individuals living in Nouakchott. Reflecting on this made me realize very quickly that moving and living in the Foreign Service is very much like leveling up in a video game. Allow me to explain…

Whether you have been in the Foreign Service for 20 years or 2 months, unless you have previously lived/worked in the country you are heading to (not very common), each move brings with it a variety of unique obstacles you have to overcome. Even before arriving to country you have to do your homework. What kind of visa rules do they have? How do you get that visa? How long does it take to get that visa? What are their vehicle import rules (some countries restrict older cars, certain colors, or R/LHD). Do you have a consumables allowance (food/products you will consume/use during your tour)? If so, have you bought everything? Have you arranged your pack out? Have you booked your tickets?

Even before you depart the United States, it is a laundry list of tasks you have to complete before you ever get on that plane, and ticking that box off when you get them done is a large relief that definitely makes you feel like you’ve leveled up.

Unfortunately, once you arrive in your new country, you immediately realize you’re back to basics. You land with whatever your two suitcases per person could carry, and that is it. You will be invited over to dinner with a coworker early on (usually your arrival sponsor), and just be marveled out how well decorated their house is, how much stuff they have, and how much great food options they have on offer. Meanwhile you’re in your new house with sterile walls, none of your personal touches, and an empty fridge. You don’t know your way around. You don’t have a car. You don’t know anyone. It’s a pretty helpless feeling in those first days trying to get your bearings. You’re like a video game character starting at level 1.

Then as the first few weeks go by the journey really begins. You find your bearings at work. You get to know your section of town. You get to know your colleagues. You get invited to social functions. Then, out of the sky comes an airplane with your Unaccompanied Air Baggage (UAB), which in our case was 750lbs of our belongings we thought we needed more urgently than anything else. Mostly kitchen wares, clothing, a television, a computer (RIP), and some stereo equipment. At around the time you receive your UAB, you finally feel like you’ve leveled up a bit.

Even then though, you are still just an errant individual, still finding their place in the world. Your house is still pretty sterile and you are still sleeping on the government mattress that was provided by the lowest bidder. Your household effects, which is the rest of your stuff, are still a ways off. The consumable food and cleaning items you purchased are likely on a boat in the Atlantic so you are at the mercy of the local market. If you shipped a car, it still hasn’t arrived and you are likely dependent on whatever government system is in place for you to get to work (Motor pool in Nouakchott).

Then, a few weeks later, if you are lucky, your HHE arrives and then you can really start turning your place into “your place”. This to me is a big game changer being able to add touches of home into your housing, and really makes you feel like you’ve leveled up. It was a big morale booster for our family. Same with receiving the consumables shipment. I didn’t think a couple of cases of Diet Coke, salsa, and Cheeze-Its would get me so excited, but here we are.

From there your car arrives and you no longer feel like a helpless kid anytime you realize you need more bread or milk. That for our family was the biggest game changer. Being able to come and go anywhere as we please. Not being on a hour long work shuttle dropping off half a dozen other people when my commute only takes 10 minutes. We love and still use our motor pool service, but not being wholly dependent on it has been very liberating. Huge level up.

The last big level up in my opinion has been ongoing. Language. MED folks do not get language training so you really find yourself in some countries being quite helpless. Since arriving in Nouakchott, I have invested significant time to learning French, have two in person lessons a week, and completed a distance learning course through the Foreign Service Institute. I am still so bad at speaking French, but the efforts have paid huge dividends in letting me get around the country a bit easier, and I no longer get anxious when trying to order something in French on the phone or in person. As time goes on it will only get better and my advise to anyone on this journey is to try and invest time into learning the local language. It opens lots of doors.

In just 6 months time we went from being helpless to having just about everything needed in one of the most remote locations on the planet. I feel like Super Mario on the final stage with his fire suit on.

I think the weirdest thing in all of this is 18 months from now, the cycle will begin anew. I will start right back at level 1 in whatever country we find ourselves in. I guess the only advantage on the pre-planning side is I will learn my next posting with a year of lead time and not just 6 weeks, which hopefully will make getting all the pre-departure ducks in a row much easier.

Now that we are settled in nicely, we are starting to look forward to travelling a bit more and using some of the R&R’s we have stored up. Spring time will see us head back to the U.S. to visit family, and the Summer will afford us a wonderful opportunity to take a lengthy European trip. What a difference 6 months can make. –Nick